Davis Cup Nashville
World Group Quarterfinal. April 6-8, 2018
Team USA defeats Belgium 4-0, advancing to the World Group Semifinals for the first time since 2012
Daily Recaps. Team USA defeats Belgium 4-0
FRI
Day 1. Two Singles Matches. Curb Event Center
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John Isner -09- (USA) def Joris De Loore -319- (BEL) 63 67(4) 76(8) 64
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Sam Querrey -14- (USA) def Ruben Bemelmans -110- (BEL) 61 76(5) 75
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SAT
Day 2. The Doubles Match. Curb Event Center
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Jack Sock / Ryan Harrison (USA) def Sander Gille / Joran Vliegen (BEL)
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Tie clinching victory: 57 76(1) 76(3) 64
SUN
Day 3. One Singles Match. Curb Event Center
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Ryan Harrison -54- (USA) def Ruben Bemelmans -110- (BEL) 63 64
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Three Days of World-Class Tennis in Music City
For the first time since 1978, Davis Cup Tennis returned to Nashville April 6-8 at Belmont University’s Curb Event Center. The stakes were high, as the top American men in the sport battled for a spot in the 2018 World Group Semifinals against Belgium’s tennis elite.
[vector_icon icon=”fas fa-hand-point-right” color=”#b6e83a”] Davis Cup in Nashville. A Socially Significant History
Since its inception in 1900, Davis Cup has become the world’s largest annual international team competition in sport. Over 130 nations compete every year. Davis Cup embodies the Olympic-style excitement of “nation vs nation” competition, exuding an electric atmosphere unrivaled in the game. For avid fans and tennis newcomers, Davis Cup weekends are entertaining “must-experience” events for the entire family.
Team USA defeats Belgium 4-0
April’s Tie in Nashville was a World Group Quarterfinal, and featured five matches over the 3-day weekend. April 5th’s Draw Ceremony at the Country Music Hall of Fame determined the opponents for all three days of competition.
On Friday – following the Opening Ceremony at 3:30p – John Isner and Sam Querrey both won their Singles matches, giving Team USA a 2-0 lead heading into the weekend’s Doubles match. On Saturday, Jack Sock teamed with Ryan Harrison to clinch the victory for Team USA.
With the Tie decided, both teams chose to play just one Singles match on Sunday. An inconsequential contest, Captain Jim Courier replaced John Isner with Ryan Harrison, who defeated Ruben Bemelmans in straight sets.
For over 30-minutes following Ryan’s victory, Team USA took the court to sign autographs for Sunday’s fans in attendance.
Draw Ceremony at the Country Music Hall of Fame
Team USA will travel to Croatia this September for the World Group Semifinals, where they’ll compete for a spot in the 2018 Davis Cup Final. If victorious, it will be the US Davis Cup Team’s first Final appearance since capturing the title in 2007.
In the other half of the draw this weekend, David Ferrer lifted Spain into the Semifinals with a deciding rubber defeat of Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber. Spain will face France in September, after Lucas Pouille clinched the Tie in Italy, defeating Fabio Fognini in four sets.
Just wanted to take a moment to say “THANK YOU” for a fantastic job, as always, this weekend in Nashville. From the new Meet & Greet to the Draw to the on-court Net Generation programming to the announcing throughout the weekend, you did not disappoint. You were always at the ready with the appropriate tone and intonation. Thanks for being part of TEAM USA!!!
Michael Fiur
#TeamUSATennis
John Isner / World #9
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- 16th Davis Cup Tie
- Davis Cup Singles Record: 14-11
- Davis Cup Doubles Record: 2-0
- 13 career Singles titles. 5 career Doubles titles
- Grand Slam Singles Quarterfinalist at the 2011 US Open
- 2018: On Sunday, won the biggest Singles title of his career in Miami. Two weeks prior, won his 5th career Doubles title at Indian Wells (with Jack Sock)
- 2017: Earned his 11th and 12th career Singles titles in Newport and Atlanta, also reached his 9th and 10th Doubles finals in Acapulco and Beijing
- 24 career wins over top-10 opponents, including three last week in Miami — Defeated #3 Marin Cilic, #6 Juan Martin del Potro and #5 Alexander Zverev
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Sam Querrey / World #14
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- 13th Davis Cup Tie
- Davis Cup Singles Record: 8-9
- Davis Cup Doubles Record: 1-0
- 10 career Singles titles. 5 career Doubles titles
- Grand Slam Singles Semifinalist at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships
- 2018: In February, reached his 18th career Singles final at the New York Open and climbed to a career-high ranking of World #11
- 2017: Earned his 9th and 10th career Singles titles in Acapulco and Los Cabos
- 18 career wins over top-10 opponents. Four last year, including a victory over World #1 Andy Murray at Wimbledon
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Jack Sock / World #16
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- 6th Davis Cup Tie
- Davis Cup Singles Record: 4-3
- Davis Cup Doubles Record: 2-0
- 4 career Singles titles. 10 career Doubles titles
- 2 Grand Slam titles: 2014 Wimbledon Doubles. 2011 US Open Mixed Doubles
- 2018: Won two Doubles titles. Delray Beach with Jackson Withrow and Indian Wells with John Isner
- 2017: Earned biggest Singles title of his career last November at the Rolex Masters in Paris
- Rio 2016: Olympic Gold Medalist. Mixed Doubles with Bethanie Mattek-Sands
- Rio 2016: Olympic Bronze Medalist. Doubles with Steve Johnson
- 9 career wins over top-10 opponents, including four last year
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Steve Johnson / World #52
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- 5th Davis Cup Tie
- Davis Cup Singles Record: 1-2
- Davis Cup Doubles Record: 4-0
- 2 career Singles titles. 1 career Doubles titles
- Grand Slam Doubles Semifinalist at the 2015 US Open (with Sam Querrey)
- 2018: Reached 10th career Singles Semifinal in February at the Delray Beach Open
- 2017: Won his second career Singles title at the US Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston. Reached his 4th career Doubles final in Memphis
- Rio 2016: Olympic Bronze Medalist. Doubles with Jack Sock
- 3 career wins over top-10 opponents, including a victory over Dominic Thiem last October in Tokyo
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Ryan Harrison / World #54
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- 4th Davis Cup Tie
- Davis Cup Singles Record: 1-2
- Davis Cup Doubles Record: 1-0
- 1 career Singles titles. 4 career Doubles titles
- 1 Grand Slam title. 2017 French Open Doubles
- 2018: Started the year by reaching his 3rd career Singles final in Brisbane
- 2017: Won his first Singles title in Memphis and reached his 2nd Singles final in Atlanta. Won two Doubles titles (including the French Open) in three finals
- 2 career wins over top-10 opponents, including Milos Raonic at 2016 US Open
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Jim Courier / Captain
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- Team captain since 2010
- Led Team USA to the 2012 World Group Semifinals
- 2-time Davis Cup Champion as a player (1992 and 1995)
- 4-time Grand Slam Singles Champion and former World #1
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#TeamBelgium
Ruben Bemelmans / World #110
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- 2-time Davis Cup Finalist (2015, 2017)
- 21st Davis Cup Tie
- Davis Cup Singles Record: 5-8
- Davis Cup Doubles Record: 7-9
- 0 career Singles titles. 1 career Doubles titles
- 2018: Played through qualifying and defeated World #18 Lucas Pouille to reach Round-2 of the Australian Open for the first time. Last week, reached the Singles Semifinals and Doubles Final of the Le Gosier Challenger
- 2017: Won his fifth career Challenger Tour Singles title in January. Reached the 3rd-Round of a Grand Slam for the second time at Wimbledon
- 0 career wins over top-10 opponents
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Joris De Loore / World #319
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- Davis Cup Finalist (2017)
- 5th Davis Cup Tie
- Davis Cup Singles Record: 1-1
- Davis Cup Doubles Record: 2-3
- 0 career Singles titles. 0 career Doubles titles
- 2018: In March, won his first career Challenger Tour Doubles title in Drummondville, Canada
- 2017: Reached 2 Challenger Tour Doubles finals. 2 Challenger Tour Singles semifinals
- 0 career wins over top-10 opponents
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Sander Gille / World #84 (Doubles)
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- 1st Davis Cup Tie
- Davis Cup Singles Record: 0-0
- Davis Cup Doubles Record: 0-0
- 0 career Singles titles. 0 career Doubles titles
- 2018: Won his first career World Tour Doubles match in Sofia. Won his seventh Challenger Tour Doubles title in Renne, then reached his 12th career Challenger Tour Doubles final in Quimper
- 2017: Won 5 Challenger Tour Doubles titles in 8 finals
- 0 career wins over top-10 opponents
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Joran Vliegen / World #98 (Doubles)
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- 1st Davis Cup Tie
- Davis Cup Singles Record: 0-0
- Davis Cup Doubles Record: 0-0
- 0 career Singles titles. 0 career Doubles titles
- 2018: Won his fifth career Challenger Tour Doubles title in Renne, then reached his 10th career Challenger Tour Doubles final in Quimper (both with Sander Gilles)
- 2017: Won 4 Challenger Tour Doubles titles in 6 finals
- 0 career wins over top-10 opponents
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Johan Van Herck / Captain
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- Team captain since 2011
- Led Belgium to the Davis Cup Final in 2015 and 2017
- Won 8 career ATP Challenger Tour Singles title during his playing career
- Biggest Davis Cup upsets as a player: Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov in 1995 and Sweden’s Thomas Enqvist in 1996
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United States and Belgium. 65-years of Davis Cup History
United States. Most successful Davis Cup Nation
Since 1900, the Americans have won the Davis Cup title 32-times. However, Team USA hasn’t reached the Davis Cup Final since capturing the 2007 title. Over the past 10-years, its best runs came in 2008 and 2012 – where on both occasions, the U.S. fell to Spain the World Group Semifinals.
Team USA reached the 2018 World Group Quarterfinals with a 3-1 1st-Round road victory over Serbia on indoor-clay in the southern city of Nis. It was the United States’ first defeat of the Serbs, after defeats in Belgrade in 2010’s 1st-Round and Boise, Idaho in 2013’s Quarterfinals.
Sam Querrey overcame World #88 Laslo Djere in four-sets, after dropping the first in a tie-break. John Isner then won a brutal 5-setter over World #84 Dusan Lajovic, earning the victory 7-4 in the deciding set’s tie-break. On Saturday, Ryan Harrison and Steve Johnson teamed to clinch the Tie in four-sets. Steve Johnson (at the time World #50) then fell in straight-sets to World #230 Pedja Krstin in Sunday’s only dead rubber. The fifth match wasn’t played.
Belgium. A formidable opponent
The Belgians have reached the Davis Cup Final two out of the past three years. Last November, they were defeated by France in a Final that came down to the deciding rubber. David Goffin won both of his rubbers over Lucas Pouille and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Pouille then clinched the Davis Cup title for France with a straight-sets victory over Steve Darcis, giving-up only four games in the deciding match.
In 2015, Belgium fell to Great Britain in the U.K.’s first Davis Cup title in 79-years
Back in February’s 1st-Round, Belgium advanced to the Quarterfinals with a 3-2 home victory over Hungary. Ruben Bemelmans and David Goffin lifted the Belgians to a 2-0 lead after the first day of singles competition, but the Hungarians kept the Tie alive with a 5th-set doubles victory on Saturday. On Sunday, Goffin clinched the win with a 4-set defeat of Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics. Hungary’s Zsombor Piros (World #521) then defeated Julien Cagnina (World #248) in the weekend’s final dead rubber.